creation88

I have a Clarks superdome T39 that's sitting idle in my parts box. PM me if you're interested.

The rep is L serial and the gen is M. I don't know if that makes a difference to the font used, but the caseback has brushed SS on the gen and polished SS on the rep too.

I had a 312 rep for a while - I sold it when I bought a Gen 329. Side by side they were almost indistinguishable (apart from the GMT of course). The lume is great. The real tell is the movement, but that's not visible when it's on your wrist. The AR is good, (the lower quality sapphire is where it falls down) but I think it's a great rep.

The lume is very good. Not quite as bright or even as the gen, and the gen glows all night. I'll try and do a side by side over the weekend.

I have a gen 329 and a rep 312. Side by side, they are almost identical (GMT complication apart). The AR is pretty much the same - it's the clarity/quality of the sapphire on the gen that makes all the difference.

+1 from me. Mine's from Kuvarsit and I have it on my Noob 111M. Feel and build quality is very comparable to my OEM alligator strap.

Have a look at the teardown review Angus did: http://www.rwg.cc/topic/138469-the-ultimate-pam111m-teardown-review-150-images/ It show's you most of, if not all of the differences between the H and N models, some of which can be assessed without pulling the watch apart.

My transparent AR noob 111M from Angus came with a vanilla-smelling strap, so does that make mine a "franken"?

The black ringed subdials and brushed lugs is what swung it for me. The clasp on the 16520 is a bit non-premium compared to the 116520, but overall, I prefer the more vintage/tool-watch look and feel of the 16520.

I consider myself told.

My gen 1680 with 93150 has 580 endlinks. One thing you do need to do when modding MBW cases is reduce the space between the crown and the body of the watch. Even with a gen crown and tube, that little 0.5mm step of metal is a big tell. The dials are great though - almost indistinguishable from the early T < 25 replacement dials (without a loupe of course).

Love that silver datewheel! Beautiful watch. I fell victim to one on VRF. To me the 1680 is the perfect Sub.

I was under the impression he wore a 16800. http://uk.askmen.com/fashion/watch/rolex-submariner-16800.html

Looks gen to me. Thin font lumi insert, but the rest looks all original (except perhaps the endlinks). How about this one?

I managed to get hold of a gen 93150 from 1978 with 580 end pieces and put it on my MBW Great White 1665. I don't know if it's psychological, but it makes the whole watch feel more gen.

There was a mint condition 93160/952B for sale on the Vintage Rolex Market along with a 93150/593. Some lucky blighter snapped both up yesterday for $1000. 93160s show up on eBay every so often. The main difference between the old and new is that you can only access the spring bars through the lug holes – there are no little nicks in the endlinks for non-lughole access.

Nice job. One more thing you could do is trim the crown guards a bit. TPDC crown guards are much smaller and thinner than Daytona ones.

Other peoples Subdates always seem to wear bigger than mine (gen 16800). I don't have big wrists (less that 7") but I am quite tall – 6'2". It must be an optical illusion...

+1 for heads up on a rep-friendly UK based watchmaker/modder. Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Domenico is great, someone more local would be greater. Thanks

Rolex changed the steel from 316 to 904 with the 168000 which ran for about a year in the late 80s. The matte dial was on the 16800 for only a couple of years in the early 80s and then they introduced the gloss dial with white gold hour markers in about 1982. One big "tell" with the rep dials (Yuki etc) is the shape of the coronet. The matte dials on the transitional models (16800 sub and 16750 GMT) had really strangely stretched coronets and the 16800 actually had a silver, not white, date wheel. The caseback is the same as on the 16610.

I don't know about 16660s, but 16800s have silver datewheels – the white ones were service replacements (on the matte dialled ones anyway). They're not brushed, like 1665s or 1680s but metallic nonetheless. Here's mine.

Exactwatches sounds like the name a replica seller would use. Step away from the rep – nothing gen to see here!

From the right: Tritium, Tritium, Paint.

Those InGod Rail Dials look pretty darned good. Good size Date window too. Where do I get on of those and are they built to fit ETA movements?

You could get a Yuki 16660 matte dial, cut the feet off (as they only make them for 3035 movements) and install it in the modern case, if it fits. Oh and you'll need to drill the lugs as well, but what a watch you'll end up with!